Homo Lupus
by DeathPaladin
Summary: A little something that was goin' through my head. A little more mature than my normal fare, but not by much. Still, rating for safety.


**Homo Lupus**

Disclaimer: I do not own X-Men Evolution or the guest character used within. A little more mature than my other fics, but still no true lemon.

AN: This is just something that's been rattling around in my head for a while. Namely, since Wolfsbane is essentially a wolf/human hybrid, does that mean she's subject to the same…cycles…as a female wolf? Guest-starring one of my favorite Marvel characters, who is under-appreciated and under-used in my opinion.

Somewhere in the wilderness around Bayville, New York…

_The forest was silent, not even the insects chirping. The doe paused, sniffing the air. Something was not right…_

_Mere feet away, a pair of burning yellow-red (NOT orange! The whites are yellow and the irises red) eyes regarded the deer with hunger. The owner of the eyes was patient; it had come a long way from the mindless beast, the savage hunter it had once been. Before, it would have run the deer down and torn it apart. Now, it instinctively understood that patience was essential when hunting._

_Suddenly the predator raised its snout and inhaled. A scent was wafting on the breeze, past the deer. A scent that overrode the Hunger and hard-wired the creature's brain for one purpose…_

_The doe bolted as a gigantic brown-and-silver wolf barreled into the clearing and took off in the direction the scent originated._

Xavier Institute

Rahne Sinclair absolutely _hated_ her mutation right now. Ninety-nine percent of the time she loved it; the freedom and sense of exuberance that came from her wolf-form. But the remaining one percent…

_O' course, it makes sense that I'd be like this,_ she thought to herself as another blistering wave rocked her body.

A few years ago, Rahne had hit her first cycle. However, to her humiliation, the embarrassment of her friends and the amusement (Logan didn't bother to hide his snickering) of the instructors, Rahne's 'cycle' wasn't menstruation.

Instead, once a year she entered estrus.

In layman's terms, currently she literally was a bitch in heat.

And she _hated_ it. The first time it happened, she almost ravaged Roberto. Then, when several of the female students tried to restrain her, she would've taken Kitty's head off, if it weren't for the latter's powers. After that, the Professor had decided that during her annual 'problem', she would be kept in quarantine in a special outdoors pen-for some reason, she was unable to assume her human or hybrid forms until the heat passed. Her teachers were oddly understanding (especially her Biology teacher), allowing her to make up all the work she missed and sending the lesson notes home with the others, but despite being human, Rahne was a _pack animal. _She needed companionship. For her, this yearly isolation was the worst torture of all.

Rahne covered her head with her paws and whimpered as an even worse wave of heat blasted her.

Well, maybe not the isolation...

Two days later…

_The moon shone full, casting its silvery glow on the Wolf as it galloped towards the all-consuming scent. Its mind reduced to the Beast, it nevertheless ignored the raging Hunger, its mind set on one thing:_

_A Female was ready. And she was close._

Rahne raised her head as an unfamiliar scent hit her nostrils. Her eyes widened as a positively _massive_ male wolf cleared the walls of the Institute effortlessly. Luckily for him, the Institute's security systems were keyed to ignore anything with the genetic signature of a wolf-meaning under normal circumstances Rahne could go outside to frolic under the moonlight to her heart's content, while leaving infiltration by pesky metamorphs (coughMystiquecough) unlikely (The woman's obsession with making things up to her children was starting to border on stalkerish).

The male padded over, tongue hanging out. He stopped at the clear walls of Rahne's pen and sniffed, the female mutant lycanthrope sniffing back.

A haze settled over Rahne's mind as she regarded the creature in front of her.

_Big…strong…this one will father good pups…no! What're ye thinkin', lass? Snap out o' it, Rahne! Oh, but 'e smells so…good…_

Any more conscious thought flew out the window as the heated haze took firm hold of her instincts. She stood and panted happily as the male wolf just smashed through the barrier like it was nothing.

_The male, had he been capable, would've grinned. This bitch would mother strong pups._

_She padded over and sniffed his face before turning around and looking over her shoulder, as if to say 'Well? Aren't you going to get on with it?'_

_The male did not need any more invitation than that._

Jean Grey shot up in bed with a start, the extremely erotic dream fading. One thing remained clear as glass in her head, though…the feeling of being pounded like a bitch in heat…

Bitch in heat…

"RAHNE!" she cried, both mentally and vocally.

Immediately the Professor's psionic 'voice' entered her head.

_Jean? Jean, what's wrong? You suddenly cried Rahne's name. Did something happen? A dream, maybe?_

_Not a dream, professor,_ she answered. _Not really. More like an…erotic dream…caused by…_

The professor cut her off.

_I feel it too, now. Gather the others. I just hope it's not too late._

As the Professor pushed himself up in bed, one thought was going through his mind.

_Moira is going to __**kill**__ me. Slowly._

"Like, what's going on, Jean?" Kitty "Shadowcat" Pryde asked through a yawn. "It's, like, three AM."

"I think…its Rahne."

THAT got everyone awake in a hurry.

"What about'er?" Anna-Marie "Rogue" Darkholme asked.

"I think…she's mating."

Before anyone could even react, Logan was racing for the front door.

The mutant known as Wolverine blasted out the doors and was racing towards the "wolf-pen", his clone/sister/daughter/whatever-the-hell-she-was quickly joining him.

Logan and Laura stopped cold as the pen came into view. Wolverine snarled, his claws unsheathing with their distinctive _snikt._

There, pounding Wolfsbane like there was no tomorrow, was an unnaturally large male wolf.

Rahne was panting in ecstasy before she and the male let out simultaneous howls as they reached completion. Despite everything both he and Laura had gone through, the male's howl somehow managed to send a shiver of fear down their metal-coated spines.

"Dammit," Logan spat under his breath. "Too late."

"So?" X23 replied. "I'm still gonna carve it apart."

With that, she shot forward, claws extended.

Rahne and the male turned to regard the charging two-leg. The male snarled as it felt the murderous intent coming off of the girl. It crouched and leapt.

Rahne was too weak to do anything but watch, torn, as her new mate attacked one of her pack.

Laura dove to one side as the big wolf landed, lashing out with her claws. It appeared that she'd missed as the wolf didn't react at all, landing and turning towards her before lashing out with the claws on its front paw.

_The male snarled as it attacked the female two-leg. With the mating instinct subsided, the Hunger returned._

_And it would feed._

Logan leapt at the wolf, roaring, as it pinned Laura and went for her throat. His claws penetrated the beast's skin, heart, lungs, before extending clear through the other side.

Surprisingly, the big wolf seemed to not feel anything as it spun away from Laura, Logan's claws ripping out of its body before it attacked him.

Logan and Laura were both surprised to see the supposedly fatal wounds heal before their very eyes.

Despite all their skill, and the fact that they had been training to fight together since Laura joined the Institute, they were swiftly placed on the defensive by the seemingly blood-crazed beast.

A crimson beam of energy slammed into the wolf's side mid-leap, knocking it to the ground. It swiftly got to its feet and growled at the new arrivals.

"What the heck?" Scott "Cyclops" Summers grunted. "I hit it with enough force to stun Juggernaut!"

"Yeah, well this ain't no ordinary wolf, Slim," Logan shot back. "My claws aren't doin' diddly. Any wounds just seem to heal instantly."

"Mien gott! Look at its size!" Kurt "Nightcrawler" Wagner-Darkholme exclaimed. "That is _not_ normal."

"Y'think it's, like, a mutant with the same powers as Rahne?" Kitty asked.

"No, otherwise Cerebro would have alerted the Professor."

"Whatever it is, look sharp! Here it comes!" Dr. Hank "Beast" McCoy shouted.

Meanwhile, James "Multiple" Madrox, one of Rahne's best friends, raced to her side, along with Jean.

"Rahne? Rahne, are you alright?" James asked.

He barely dodged as Rahne savagely dove for his throat, snarling.

"Multiple!" Tabitha "Meltdown" Smith exclaimed.

"Rahne's being controlled by her instincts!" Jean shouted. "And right now, those instincts are telling her we're a threat to her mate!"

"In dot case," a heavily-Russian-accented voice replied, "I hope the little one dos not hold this against me, da?"

Piotr "Colossus" Rasputin picked Rahne up by the scruff of her neck and tapped her on the head. Hard.

He let go and Wolfsbane dropped to the ground, unconscious.

The X-Men and New Mutants were having a rough time, despite their superior numbers. Anything they did to the wolf was either ignored or regenerated in moments. Kitty and Kurt were acting in a purely defensive manner, phasing or teleporting those too injured to keep fighting out of harm's way. Soon the only mutants left standing were Cyclops, Jean, Colossus, Gambit, Rogue, and of course Wolverine, Shadowcat, Nightcrawler, and X23.

Suddenly the wolf froze, before dropping to its knees and falling over, snoring.

Professor X maneuvered his hoverchair over to his students.

"I think we've all had enough excitement for one night," he said. "Piotr, if you would kindly carry our furry guest to the Danger Room? We'll keep him there for now and sort things out in the morning."

"Da, professor."

"_Ughhh…"_

_A young man sat up, groaning._

"_My head…it never hurts this bad the morning after."_

_He glanced around._

"_What the…? Where the hell am I?"_

_His current location was very different from the one he expected._

_It seemed like some form of high-tech gymnasium…_

…_Except gyms didn't have giant weapons systems pointing at you and following your every move._

_The young man had just one question for himself._

"_What the fuck did I DO last night?"_

It was morning, a Saturday to be precise, and almost the entire occupancy of the Institute was up and about…with the exception of Rahne. They had decided to keep her in a sedated state until they figured out what to do with the male wolf. Breakfast was strangely subdued, as opposed to the normal chaos and pandemonium. Though this might have something to do with the fact that they would have to face a seemingly bloodthirsty wolf the size of Dr. McCoy rather soon. To the relief of some students, the Professor had called Erik and "Freedom Force", as Pyro and the Brotherhood now called themselves, over in case things went south.

When they trooped to the Danger Room, though, they were in for a shock.

Instead of a raging wolf, there was a red-haired, blue-eyed young man in his early 20's.

Stark naked.

The girls quickly got their drooling in check as they watched the professor, flanked by Erik, Logan, Piotr, and Blob, enter the Danger Room.

The young man looked up quickly as part of the wall slid open to reveal a door. Five people entered, two of whom he recognized instantly.

"Hello, young man. My name is…"

"…Professor Charles Francis Xavier, founder of the X-Men and key figure in the Mutant Rights movement. The man with grey hair is Erik Magnus Lehnsherr, also called Magneto, considered by some to be a terrorist or 'Mutant Nazi', others a misguided advocate of the same. I've heard of you."

With the young man seemingly no threat, the rest of the inhabitants swarmed in.

"Like, who are you?" Kitty asked. Before he could answer, she asked another question that made him freeze. "And, like, where'd that giant wolf go?"

"You said…giant…wolf," the youth asked in a low voice.

"Yeah," Rogue replied. "It was tough. Nothin' we did hurt it."

The young man paled as memories flooded his head.

"Dear Mother of Heaven," he whispered, "what have I done?"

Nobody seemed to notice this as they kept talking about the weird wolf.

"Excuse me."

Silence fell as the young man spoke softly, yet everyone heard it.

"Professor Xavier…do you, by any chance…have a student here who is a lycanthropic shapeshifter?"

"I wouldn't put it in those terms, but yes."

"Are they female?"

"Yes…"

"Were they…in estrus last night?"

"Why, yes."

"How…old is she?"

"Roughly…fifteen, sixteen?"

"DAMN IT!" The young man shouted, slamming a fist into the wall of the Danger Room. Several people noticed, uneasily, that a dent was left in the wall afterwards. "DAMN IT TO FUCKING HELL!" He took several deep breaths to calm himself.

"Professor, I will explain everything, I promise. But first, I need two things. Clothes, and meat."

"Meat?" Pietro asked, confused.

The youth nodded.

"Raw, bloody meat. I haven't eaten in two days."

The mutants looked on, several feeling slightly sick, as the young man tore into an eight-pound roast like a starving animal, bits of meat flying everywhere.

"Geez, this guy eats like…" Lance began.

"…a wolf?" the youth finished, eyes glowing slightly yellow.

"Actually, I was going to say like Fred here," Avalanche replied, slapping the obese mutant on the back.

"Are you trying to make me sit on you?" Blob shot back. Several people chuckled.

The young man threw the last bone aside and rose.

"Let's get somewhere more…comfortable. And if you would bring the wolf-girl…"

"Her name is Rahne. Rahne Sinclair."

"…bring Rahne as well? She needs to hear _exactly_ what she's in for."

Rahne stirred, eyes blinking open.

"Wha' happened? The med-bay? Why'm I…?"

"You don't remember anything of last night, Wolfie?"

Rahne glanced to the side to see Jamie and…

"Wanda? What're ye doin' here?"

The mutant known as Scarlet Witch smiled softly.

"Do you remember last night, Rahne?"

"Vaguely… I remember…"

She eeped and turned crimson.

"Did…did I…?"

Jamie nodded.

"Ach, Mum is gonna kill me…"

"I rather doubt Dr. MacTaggart is going to blame you," Magneto replied, gliding into the room. "After all, you weren't exactly in control of your actions last night."

"It's weird, Rahne," Jamie piped up. "We locked this wolf the size of Dr. McCoy in the Danger Room, and this morning there's a naked boy in there."

Rahne nearly passed out.

"C'mon, Sinclair. The guy wants you there when he explains what is going on."

Rahne nodded before pausing.

"C'n I get some clothes first?"

The young man noticed the smaller boy, the girl in the ripped bodystocking and trenchcoat, and Lehnsherr guide a green-eyed slip of a girl with her brown hair in two short pigtails into the room. Their eyes met and both felt something flash between them.

Rahne was blushing furiously as she took a seat between Laura and Roberto.

At length, the young man spoke.

"All right, what do you want to know first?"

"Let's start with a name, bub," Logan almost growled.

"My name, legally, is Jack Russell. I was born under the name Jakob Russoff."

Jubilation giggled.

"Jack Russell? Like the breed of dog?"

Jack leaned forward.

"Girl, I would be _very_ careful about mocking me. I don't like killing, but that doesn't mean I haven't done it. In fact, except for last night, I've been killing, maiming, crippling, or scarring the first living thing I come across once a month."

"Oh," Jubilee squeaked. Logan tensed.

"So you're…some kind of serial killer?"

Jack looked offended.

"Of course not. I've never killed a human, and I've no plans to start anytime soon."

"Then explain that comment. We know you're not a mutant, so what the bloody blazes are you?"

Jack sighed and leaned back.

"Ah, I was afraid we'd get to that sooner rather than later. You have to understand, my history is…complicated."

He turned his gaze to the ceiling.

"I guess my story starts in the year 1465 with my ancestor Grigori Russoff…"

"Grigori was a Wallachian nobleman, and a close friend of the ruler of Wallachia, Vlad Tepes Dracul."

Jack snorted in repressed laughter.

"Turns out Stoker was right. Dracul did, in fact, become a vampire after his death in 1459, and swiftly ascended to the position King of Vampires, succeeding his mentor, Varnae. Grigori wasn't aware of this, knowing only that his friend had become even more bloodthirsty and depraved. His mistake was speaking out about it, even confronting Dracula himself. Because of their past friendship, and the fact that Vlad owed his life to Grigori, the vampire refused to have him killed. Instead, he decided to show Grigori a bloodlust that exceeded his own. He sent one of his most trusted courtesans to seduce Grigori, who had just lost his wife. The courtesan…inflicted Grigori with the curse of the werewolf."

He held up a hand for silence at the whispers that followed his remark.

"Grigori's sons had already been born, meaning he couldn't pass the curse on to them. Or so he thought. In the year 1795, my ancestor Gregory Russoff came into possession of a book known as the Darkhold, an evil tome said to have been penned by the insane Elder God Cthon. It was opening that book that sealed Gregory's fate. Ever since, the firstborn of every generation has become a werewolf on their eighteenth birthday, but _ONLY_ if the firstborn is male. My father was the first firstborn male in generations. He sent my pregnant mother to America for her protection. That same night, he was killed by a mob."

Kurt gave Jack a look of sympathy, having barely escaped a mob himself once.

"I'm actually the oldest of twins. My sister, Lissa, has tried to find a cure for my…condition…for years. In fact, the Wolf once had to rescue her from a group of cultists who tried to sacrifice her for trying to leave."

Jack sighed.

"For two years I wandered, trying to either keep myself contained during the full moon or keep myself isolated. Caging myself didn't work; even a cell composed of pure silver was unable to contain the Beast. The burns didn't fully heal until the next transformation, but…"

"Then these three beings calling themselves the 'Three-Who-Are-One' came to me. They partially lifted the curse, allowing me to change at will, no matter the time of day or phase of the moon while retaining my full consciousness-except, for their own amusement, the curse is still in full effect during the full moon. Those nights, I still change, against my will, and become the mindless, ravening beast. Eventually, my wolf-form became more and more lupine, and, while I still retain my consciousness, more and more it is influenced by the instincts of the Wolf. I can control myself, but it is a struggle. And for some reason, while I'm still vulnerable to silver…I can't be killed. Again, for their amusement, they made it so that only one person can kill me. And then promptly arranged the death of that person. I still age. I can still die of old age. I just can't be killed by violent means."

Jack assumed a look of disgust.

"Eventually, I killed them, but not before they had killed everyone I cared about in order to toy with me. My pain…amused them. My sister and her family… My best friend… My mother… The woman I loved…_everyone_ I cared about. So, to ease the pain, I've spent the last few years as isolated as humanly possible. Especially during my… 'time of the month'."

The Professor gazed at him with understanding.

"So you had isolated yourself in the wilderness around Bayville, not knowing how close you actually were to the Institute."

Jack nodded.

"I had been hunting as the Wolf two nights ago when the scent of a female in heat hit my nostrils. It overrode everything-the insatiable Hunger, my will, everything. I tracked it non-stop for two days. And the rest, as they say, is history."

"So…" Rahne started, softly, "that leaves the question…what do we do now?"

Jack looked away and sighed.

"I honestly don't know. There _will_ be pups. The Wolf in both of us will make sure of that. Whether you keep them, or not…it's your choice, in the end."

Rahne whipped around and _glared_ at him.

"My choice? Don't ye even _caire_ aboot yer own offspring?" she snapped angrily.

"Of course I care, _girl_," Jack snapped, eyes becoming yellow-and-red. "What you don't seem to _**understand**_ is that you and the pups will be the _only_ ones in this entire damn place I wouldn't try and kill!" Rahne shrank back, eyes wide in slight fear. "I want to be there for them, be their father…it's simply too dangerous. I can't, I'm truly, truly sorry, but _I can't._"

Erik spoke up.

"There's also another question. Namely, if Rahne does, indeed, decide to carry the…pups…to term, how much of their mother will they inherit? And how much of their father? Will they share Rahne's mutation, or will the firstborn, if a male, become a werewolf with other mutant powers? Will they even be mutants at all? Will they share their mother's mutation but have the same curse as their father during the full moon?"

Rahne looked terrified at those possibilities. Jack looked annoyed.

"Enough, Erik," Xavier chided. "Rahne has enough to think about. Why don't we leave her and Mister…do you prefer Russell or Russoff?"

"Either is fine."

"…Mister Russoff alone for a while? They have much to discuss."

"Alright, Professor," Scott answered. "We'll find something to keep them busy. C'mon, guys! Suit up and meet us at the new survival course in ten minutes."

There were a series of groans as Scott turned to their former enemies.

"Pietro, Todd, Fred, John, Wanda, Lance…would you mind showing the younger students just how much you've improved since becoming a S.H.I.E.L.D. taskforce?"

"Sure, Summers. Why don't we race you 'senior' X-Men? First full team to the end of the course wins."

Scott grinned.

"You're on. But that means you can't just super-speed through, and Kitty and Kurt can't just phase or teleport. First team to make it through based on teamwork wins."

Pietro shook his hand.

"Deal."

Erik and Xavier grinned.

"Logan, Hank, Ororoe, Raven…would you mind supervising to make sure things don't get out of hand?"

The adults nodded.

"Erik, I need you help with something while our protégés amuse themselves."

Rahne looked up in a panic.

"Professor…ye're not…"

Even Erik seemed scared.

"You're going to go call Moira, aren't you?"

"Moira?" Jack asked.

"Me adoptive mum. Professor Moira MacTaggart, head of the Muir Island Mutant Research facility," Rahne said, almost whispering.

"Oh."

The Professor and Erik were standing in front of a holographic videophone.

"Charles, stop paralyzing my body."

"I wouldn't have to if you didn't intend to bolt like a terrified rabbit."

Erik's reply was cut off by the image of an attractive Scottish woman appearing before them.

"Charles? Erik? Wha' is this abou'?" Dr. MacTaggart asked.

"It's…Rahne."

"Is she alrigh'? Wha' happened?"

"Moira, it wasn't my fault, please don't kill me," Xavier said hastily.

Moira's eyes narrowed.

"Charles…"

"Moira, you'd better prepare for a shotgun wedding," Erik said. "And make sure it's loaded with silver shot."

Jack and Rahne were chatting when the sound of a woman's screech echoed through the mansion.

"_**WHAT?"**_

"Was that…"

"Me mum."

"Think we should continue this outside?"

"Aye. Definitely."

TBC...


End file.
